


Bittersweet Marriage

by kozmize



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: F/M, Iruma Miu - Freeform, Kaede Akamatsu - Freeform, Kaito Momota - Freeform, Kokichi Oma - Freeform, Kokichi Ouma - Freeform, Kyoko Kirigiri - Freeform, Maki Harukawa - Freeform, Miu iruma - Freeform, Nagito Komaeda - Freeform, Rantaro Amami - Freeform, Saihara Shuichi/Reader - Freeform, kiibo - Freeform, makoto naegi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27118489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kozmize/pseuds/kozmize
Summary: (Y/N) and Shuichi Saihara's marriage was the epitome of perfect despite the paradoxicality of him being a law enforcing detective and her being a DICE affiliate ; a suburban couple with a son and unwavering love for each other. But where did it go wrong?
Relationships: Saihara Shuichi/Reader
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> -Shuichi and (y/n)’s 4 year old son is named Akira  
> *I had a dream about Shuichi being an abandoned dad and I've been thinking about it ever since- here ya go!

As frustrating as it was, being the one and only advisor to the esteemed Kokichi Ouma, CEO of the revered criminal organization DICE, it brought inexplicable benefits. (Y/N) couldn’t ask for a better job as in spite of her boss being the most overbearing man on the planet but they’d been good friends since high school and despite her slight abhorrence for him at times, they made a great team and had brought up the organization from petty thievery to taking down entire corporations. 

As exciting as the job might have sounded, she still found herself zoning out as Kokichi rambled on about something that was possibly important but you never really knew with him. He would bring his personal affairs to work and use her as a pseudo therapist sometimes. 

“(Y/N), are you even listening?” He pulled her out of her thoughts when he poked the tip of her nose, his brows wrinkling in disappointment, “I  _ was  _ telling you about how I’m thinking about getting a dog. What do you think?”

Ah, so it  _ was  _ something trivial. “No, you’re only giving your staff more to worry about since you won’t even give it attention since you spend all your time here.” 

He frowned but nodded in agreement, “You’re right. My lovely advisor, (Y/N), is never wrong.” Looking at Kokichi the way he was now, crisscrossed and spinning like a child on his office chair, no logical soul would believe he was a billionaire CEO. Putting it into perspective, he ran his own mini heaven on Earth, a hidden city of Oma. Posing as a lacking startup company, beneath that, DICE was made up of phantom thieves with only a few members though they were all more than competent- and under the leadership of Kokichi Ouma and his number one partner, (Y/N), the Ultimate Strategist- failure was a difficult result to achieve. 

The purple-haired man crossed his arms and waited for a deadpanned response but he elicited no such reaction before her phone rang in her pocket. 

Kokichi looked at her curiously when she pulled it out and an unknown number flashed on screen. She answered anyway, putting her phone to her ear. “Hello?”

The person over the phone was a woman, “Am I speaking to Mrs. Saihara?”  _ Shit.  _ (Y/N) quickly stretched her pinky finger to lower the volume but it was already too late, Kokichi had heard and was now pressing his ear to the other side of the phone. 

“Y-yes. This is her.” 

“Great. I am the Principal at Yoremi Preschool and I have your son in my office right now. I’d like to tell you more about the situation when you come to pick him up. I’ve called his father but he’s not available at the moment, is it possible for you to come?”

(Y/N) turned a dreadful eye to her boss, implicitly asking for permission with her strained eye contact. Kokichi nodded furiously, “I can make it. I’ll be right over.”

The end of the call sounded with a beep and Kokichi sat with his legs crossed across from (Y/N), “Can I come? I really wanna see the kid. If there’s anything you and Saihara did right it was that kid-”

“No way.” His advisor was already standing, an icy look in her eyes as she packed a few things into her bag from the desk she’d been sitting at.

Kokichi huffed, well aware of her sudden change in attitude, “Whatever, not like I wanted to go. Just tell me everything when you get back, ‘kay?”

His words went seemingly unheard as she shut the door behind her, bumping into someone just outside her shared office with Kokichi. A man a few years older than her looked down at her with curious green eyes. Nagito Komaeda, the most eccentric character in the organization, second only to Kokichi himself. He’d been working there for as long as she could remember. “Leaving early?”

She nodded, hurriedly moving out of his way and rushing to the parking lot. Once in her car, her head fell on the steering wheel, a reluctant smile creeping onto her lips. Something in that moment warmed her heart but stabbed it ruthlessly at the same time. Instead of dwelling on her convoluted feelings, she drove through the familiar roads until she arrived at the destination. 

She waited in the chairs outside the principal’s office as if she was a student until the principal peeked her head out from her office, beckoning her and promptly offering her a seat next to a little boy with tousled navy blue hair. She cautiously turned her head toward him, fear building up in her throat. This was her son, her son she hadn’t seen in a year. As excited and conflicted as she felt seeing him again, how would he feel? Abandoned? Lonely? Relaxed? Had Shuichi conjured up some lie to comfort him? He was certainly capable of that. Was she the villain in little Akira’s eyes? 

When their eyes met, he was already staring at her owlishly. The principal interrupted their nervous reunion. “Again, Mrs. Saihara, I’m sorry for calling you out of your responsibilities for this. As I said before, your husband wasn’t available and I think it’s important to address that during art class, the teacher had the class painting a mural, and your son kicked all the pints of paint on the floor after being warned countless times.”

(Y/N) looked at him skeptically for a second before stifling a laugh with her hand, “I’m sorry about that, he’s just not very keen on art. He’s more physically inclined though I don’t condone his misbehavior at all.” she lowered herself in her seat to be at eye level with Akira, tilting her head and smiling gently. She couldn’t be angry at him, his actions were inconsequential in the grand scheme of things and they were consistent, to say the least. He had never once fallen into the stereotype of the child who draws on walls or paints a picture for his parents. In fact, he’d openly declared art as his least favorite subject when Shuichi and her tried to introduce him to basic school concepts. “The class aside, do you think what you did was okay? Now the school has a big mess to clean up.”

The boy grumbled lowly before looking away from (Y/N), “It was wrong, I guess...”

“So you’ll apologize to everyone you need to apologize to?” 

The boy nodded with his head turned away. The principal let out a relieved sigh. “I think going home for the day should be enough of a consequence. He’s generally a good boy, this is the first time I’ve had to call him in. I’m sure it’s a one time deal. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Saihara.”

(Y/N) dusted off the nonexistent dust from her work skirt, “For sure. Have a good day.” She awkwardly patted Akira’s back as a signal for him to get up. Akira sprinted out of his seat, catching up with her and stretching his arm up to hold her hands. 

The woman looked at him with surprise on her face before she turned away quickly and wordlessly guided them through the halls of the rather small preschool. She wouldn’t have been able to think of words to say anyway. Her mind was clogged with incoherent thoughts from seeing her son after so long and slight indignance for accepting the title of “Mrs. Saihara” three times today. Akira hadn’t even addressed her yet, would he say “mom” or would he refer to her as (Y/N)? Would he alienate her or pretend as if she hadn’t been absent from his life for so long. Part of her wanted to beg the Principal to let him ride out the day so she’d avoid all this mental turmoil but then he spoke. 

“Mommy, I have the key to the house. Let’s go there.” She swore her heart skipped a beat from pure elation. She wanted,  _ needed,  _ to ask more questions but the parking lot was not a good place to do it. She’d do just as he asked and take him home and wait with him until Shuichi got home. Until then, she’d sort most of her grievances out with the young boy. She buckled him up and didn’t say a word the entire car ride, her stomach practically flipping. It didn’t help that it was almost lunch and she hadn’t eaten anything all day. 

Akira took the lead once they’d arrived at the house not too far from the school, pushing open the door and sprinting in. (Y/N), on the other hand, took a slow step inside, making her footsteps as soft as could be so as to not alert anyone else in the house. She knew at heart that nobody was home but the paranoia that Shuichi might just walk out of the kitchen nearly destroyed her. But he didn’t. 

The rumble of her stomach brought her out of her thoughts, “Dammit, maybe we should’ve passed by some place to pick up some food...” 

Almost on cue, Akira hollered from the other room, “Mommy, do you want fruit or a sandwich?”

  
  


“U-uh, sandwich?” she spoke slowly, still taken aback by how he referred to her. She looked around as she made her way to the kitchen, hand grazing the couch, eyes scanning the little ornaments on the furniture. Everything was the same, pictures of her were even still up. Saihara was never good with change but she guessed even he would take down things that pertained to her after she left him and Akira for nearly a year. 

Her analysis was brought to a pause as her son called her into the kitchen. Akira sat with a small bowl of sliced strawberries and slid a wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwich across the table to her. “Dad always has snacks ready for me for when I get home.” Akira didn’t even have to say it, she could tell by the careful wrapping and the way the strawberries were packed that it was Shuichi. 

(Y/N) took a deep breath, shutting her eyes momentarily in shame. She’d left and Shuichi had continued to be a good father, her heart sank deeper into her chest. “I bet you were surprised when I showed up today at your school instead of your dad...”

Akira swallowed a mouthful of strawberries, “A little but it’s okay. I was so mad before you got there! I don’t get why they force us to do subjects we don’t want to do!”

“Welcome to academia, Akira,” she toasted the sandwich at the boy before taking a bite. “So what time does your dad come home?”

“He usually picks me up after the talent exploration program which starts after school and ends like at 7.”

“Hmm...what’s that?” He explained the details being that it was an after school program that had the kids at Hope’s Peak Elementary explore different areas of interest in order to discover their talent. They didn’t have that when she was in Elementary school but then again, she didn’t attend his school so she couldn’t have been sure. 

(Y/N)wanted to ask more questions regarding his life and how the past year had gone but a tight feeling in her gut told her not to so she settled on inquiring about senseless things, hearing bits and pieces of what his daily life consisted of. They eventually settled on him introducing her to the new tv show he’d been obsessing over- centering around a detective. It was almost too obvious that Shuichi had introduced it to him. They sat on the couch, him snuggled up next to her as they continued to press “next episode”. It’s not like he had homework after leaving school early and even if he did, (Y/N) wouldn’t have brought it up, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

The odd thing was that (Y/N) almost relaxed, she almost accepted that Shuichi would come home and that she might be confident enough to speak to him. But being at the brink of all that meant nothing once the doorknob signaled Shuichi’s arrival. Her conviction faltered, her mind went blank, panic rose in her chest. She wanted to hide but who was she kidding? She was an adult, she had to handle this, as awkward as it might be.

And just like that, Shuichi came through the door, dropping his suitcase by the coat hanger. (Y/N) had approximately three seconds before he noticed her presence. But she captured his entire being in that short time. He wore the same black suit and tie, his hair was styled the same way as it always was- a single tuft of hair wedged between his eyes and he looked exactly like she’d remembered him...handsome.

Shuichi was dreading this reunion just as much as (Y/N) had, he looked up slowly, half not expecting her to be there. (Y/N) tried to focus on anything but him, she tried to listen intently at the tv or even concentrate on the silence that washed over them once Akira paused the show. 

“I...uh got a call from the school. I’m sorry, my phone was off and I was handling a really important case-” he apologized but (Y/N) was already scrambling to her feet.

“It’s fine. I’m gonna go.”

Akira spoke up, “Mommy, you should stay for dinner! Dad’s food is so yummy!” He was oblivious to the tension in the room. (Y/N) walked over to the boy, an apologetic smile on her face as she placed a hand affectionately on his cheek. “Some other time, alright?”

“Aww, but why?” 

Shuichi spared her from the guilt of answering him, “she has work to catch up on, she  _ did  _ have to go pick you up.”

(Y/N) flashed a gentle smile at the young boy then nodded awkwardly at Shuichi, fearing that if she glanced at him for too long, she’d be trapped there. 

  
  


__________

“Hey, hey, welcome back! What took you so long?” A rambunctious voice greeted her at the door as (Y/N) walked into her shared apartment with Miu and Kiibo. She took off her blazer and practically jumped out of her shoes.

“I saw Shuichi and Akira today.” 

Those six words had Miu on her tail, grabbing Kiibo’s attention all the same when she repeated her words in disbelief. “How? Did you finally cave?” 

Something about Miu’s word choice bothered (Y/N).  _ Cave?  _ It’s not like this was a game or a competition. There was nothing to  _ cave _ for. A sour frown fell into her lips as she plopped onto the couch, “I got a call from Akira’s school. He got in trouble and Shuichi wasn’t answering his phone so I had to go pick him up and I stayed at their house for a few hours with Akira. I left right when Shuichi came home.” 

“Okay, okay. I have a lot to say about this,” Miu started, throwing herself right next to (Y/N), Kiibo sitting on the other couch watching the conversation unfold, “you mean  _ your  _ house, this is temporary. You’re not gonna live with Kiiboy and I forever.” She lifted another finger, “what happened? Did you come to some conclusion?” 

Miu waited for her answer with her foot bouncing on the floor anxiously. She’d been pestering (Y/N) every now and then about this. She’d ask if she’d sorted something out or if she’d talked to Shuichi recently and in all honesty, Miu had nearly given up hope but this encounter had to mean something for her dear friend. It had to bring about the change (Y/N) so desperately needed, whether that be closure or reconciliation. 

“N-no, I just spent some time with Akira. I hardly spoke to Shuichi.” Her gaze was glued to the floor, knowing she had disappointed her concerned friend. Miu could let out an exasperated sigh, clipping the bridge of her nose with her fingers.

“If I may ask, (Y/N). How do you feel? After not seeing them both for so long, I’d imagine you’re feeling conflicted.” Kiibo asked before the girl could attempt to make amends with the inventor. Though she couldn’t help but mentally applaud Miu for her installation of emotions into Kiibo, he was practically human at this point in the way that he could read the air more accurately in comparison to their high school days when someone could be bawling and he’d come off as insensitive with his pure logic approach to everything.

“I-uhm…” she took a step back for a second. There was still so much going on in her head. In truth, she didn’t know what she felt. She didn’t know if she ever wanted to see them again as refreshing as it felt in the moment. 

“Fuck…” Miu cursed under her breath after getting sick of waiting for (Y/N)’s drawn-out pause to come to an end and stormed into the next room. 

Kiibo looked to the floor and then at (Y/N), “you should go to bed for today. You’re probably stressed out and don’t worry about Miu, she's just worried.”

Without another word, the girl nodded, heading to the top bunk in the bunk bed Miu and her had bought. Initially, the inventor had been ecstatic about her stay but eventually, it seemed cruel as if (Y/N) had intentionally been staying away from her husband and son without reason. 

Caught in a never-ending stream of regretful thoughts, (Y/N) laid on her back, staring at the ceiling until her phone vibrated. 

The screen illuminated the dim-lit room.

_ Shuichi: Akira is asking when you want to see him again.  _

She wished she could say _ “Everyday!”  _ But she wouldn’t even dare say it as a joke. It felt odd seeing Shuichi’s message on her screen. She remembered a time when she’d get multiple messages every day, starting with his good morning message. It would be something completely out of character like _ “good morning angel, have a lovely day :)”.  _ She missed his feigned confidence over text, she missed having recent pictures of him in her camera roll. She missed sending him messages that would make him blush when she was right next to him. She missed waking up next to him and him having his head buried in her neck and his hand was over her waist. She missed The way they would stay up all night talking about a single thing that happened that day. She missed how accommodating he always was. She missed everything about him but damn it all before she'd admit it. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi the day after the encounter

“So how did he take it?” Kyoko tucked a hair behind her ear as she flipped through the stack of files on her desk, dropping a good portion of them on Shuichi’s desk across from her. 

Shuichi grimaced at the pile, bracing himself for a long day of work at the office, “He was ecstatic to see her. As soon as she left, he couldn’t talk about anything else.” He recounted the events from the day before at length, Kyoko nodding along every now and then. Just like (y/n), he’d been vexed by the short-lived interaction they’d had. Even just one more exchange of words would have given him some clarity but here he was instead, preoccupied by his wife’s curt responses. Shuichi swallowed his hesitation, a heavy coat of distress painting his eyes as he looked up at his senior detective, “H-have you talked to her recently?”

The purple haired woman frowned as she began to scan the documents one by one, “Unfortunately, no. But she talks to Naegi more than me, most likely because he doesn’t talk to you as much as I do. She’s so paranoid but that’s to be expected from someone as careful as her.”

He squinted at the paper in his hands, attempting to concentrate to no avail. 

Kyoko sighed deeply, finally looking up at the man shaking his leg relentlessly in a nervous break, “How did the two of you even end up here? Her leaving was so sudden.”

Shuichi winced at the image of her slamming the door, at the time they didn’t know she’d be gone for so long, “I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and I think the root of the problem was there from the beginning.”

»»————- ♡ ————-««

_ Hope’s Peak Academy (2010) ~ Senior Year _

His hands were itching with how much he kept wiping them on his uniform pants. Shuichi was practically falling apart as he weaved through the hallways of Hope’s Peak, anticipating his destination being the new principal’s office. He’d started working closely with Kyoko just a few months prior and she’d offered to introduce him to the one and only, Makoto Naegi. He shut his eyes tightly for a second as Kyoko turned the knob to his office. 

Upon entering, the two witnessed the principal and a student that looked to be Shuichi’s age engrossed in conversation.

The girl was leaning her elbow on the desk, palm holding her cheek as she spoke nonchalantly, “Naegi, I don’t think you understand.  _ Everyone  _ has back pain because of the chairs. We  _ need  _ new ones. Hope’s Peak is filthy rich, you guys can afford some new chairs- and desks while you’re at it. These are looking a little bit crummy.” 

Principal Naegi shook his head, “Hope’s Peak pays for all the free resources you have. Think about it, you have all these facilities tailored to your talents and tuition is free, how do you think we get all that stuff? We shouldn’t be spending our budget on chairs.” 

Kyoko coughed, calling both of their attention, the brunette man’s furrowed brow raised in surprise, “Hey there, Kyoko!” he noticed the boy standing timidly behind her and waved, “hey to you too!”

“This is Shuichi Saihara, by the way. The one I told you about before. I thought you’d be done with your meeting with (y/n) but it looks like you’ve gotten distracted...again…. ” she shook her head in disappointment, signaling for Shuichi to step out of her shadow. His eyes darted from the ground to the principal, to the girl who was now lounging on the red leather couch. She wore the female counterpart of the uniform he was wearing, further confirming that she was a student here. He was sure he'd seen her around but this was the first time he was within such close proximity. As far as he knew, she was in his class but in a different homeroom. He faintly recalled seeing her with Rantaro and Miu during breaks. 

“As a matter of fact, we were talking about something  _ very  _ important. Shuichi Saihara here is slouching, much like me and many other  _ poor _ students at this academy. And what can we attribute that to?” The girl’s eyes feigned sadness as she posed the rhetorical question. 

The blank expressions of Kirigiri and Naegi inclined Shuichi to answer, “the chairs?”

Kyoko facepalmed, Makoto stifling a laugh. The former quickly approached the cheering girl, eyeing her crossly, “You’re diverting the conversation, Naegi did you at least bring up the issue?”

“Yes, we just got distracted, sorry about that...” It was almost comical to watch the man in the highest position at Hope’s Peak act so bashful. 

Kyoko drew an impatient breath, “I’m sure you understand the severity of the situation. Expulsion is no joke, you can’t keep risking your position as a student here.”

“Kyoko-” The young principal interjected. 

“Naegi, you’re too patient with her. This is a serious matter.”

Makoto almost dared argue back though he quickly put his grievance on pause as he refocused his attention on Kirigiri’s companion who was as stiff as a board as he watched the scene before him unfold. “Sorry about that...nice to meet you, Mr. Saihara.”

“I’ll take my leave now,” the girl stretched her arms as she stood, seemingly unfazed by the prospect of her expulsion. She spared a glance at Shuichi before walking through the door.

____________

With multiple apologies from both Kyoko and Makoto for the earlier scene, Shuichi exited the room, content with his own meeting. Though he couldn’t help but feel bad for the girl for being outed like that. Being expelled from Hope’s Peak was the greatest insult one could receive. To be recognized as an ultimate at one point only for them to rescind that proclamation and deem you average,  _ subpar,  _ it was tragic to say the least. 

He shivered at the thought as he made his way home, though his ruminations were soon put to rest when his stomach gurgled. He instinctively slouched deeper at the embarrassment despite no one being around to hear him. A pork bun sounded really good right now, and there was that place on his way back...He thanked himself for packing money this morning as he eagerly entered the minimart only a few blocks away, perusing the hot food options under the glass near the register. Stuffed meat buns were steaming under a yellow light. So plump, he could just imagine the juicy shredded meat inside gushing as he bit into it. They might have been a few hours old but he was starving and to him, they looked delectable.

Slapping a few bills on the counter, he waited for the transaction to go through, tapping his foot and looking around aimlessly, all too eager to take his first bite into the soft dough. His eyes stopped roaming abruptly as he caught sight of a familiar face. Clad in the Hope’s Peak uniform, she eyed a boxed item, if he really squinted, he recognized them as cookies. What was her name again? The question escaped him when he noticed her swiftly drop the box into one of her pockets. 

“Enjoy!” The nice woman at the register slid the wrapped bun across the counter, Shuichi grabbed it wordlessly, striding briskly toward the girl he just witnessed shoplifting. 

“H-hey, what are you doing?” 

She gasped at his sudden appearance, calming down once she recognized him, “Hello! Fancy seeing you here, Shu...” she trailed off, clearly not remembering his name.

“Shuichi Saihara.” he revealed, her lips spelled ‘Aha!’ before he continued, “You shouldn’t be shoplifting.” 

The girl winced at the accusation, hugging herself with a puppy pout etched on her face, “what? I was just looking around. It’s not nice to accuse someone you just met of stealing. Tactless, how will we ever be friends now?...” she maintained a somber look as she attempted to walk past him. For a second, he doubted the validity of what he’d witnessed but no, he’d clearly witnessed her slide the box into her pocket. 

He grabbed her arm, catching her attention once more, “You can have my meat bun, j-just put it back.” The boy quickly retracted his arm once she’d settled, eyeing him carefully for a few seconds before submitting to his demands and placing the box back on the shelf. 

“Sheesh, you’re such a flirt, Saihara, giving me your food and all that~” she clapped gleefully, walking alongside him as they exited the minimart. 

“I just stopped you from committing a crime, I don’t think that counts...” he mumbled, face still heating up slightly at her comment. 

As she was about to unwrap Saihara’s meat bun at the store entrance, an ear piercing alarm blared throughout the store. Shuichi panicked for a moment,  _ didn’t she put it back?  _ The girl nearly sprinted away and had it not been for the police men stationed by the nearby stores, she would have. She let out an exasperated sigh as the officers ushered her and Shuichi toward the register. 

The woman at the counter who’d been smiling warmly before was now sternly glaring at the pair. Shuichi cursed at himself,  _ he’d done nothing wrong and now he might get this put on his record? It would ruin him.  _ “I’m guessing it was you.” The woman pointed at the girl beside him, who’d crossed her arms, evidently disgruntled. 

“Well it wasn’t  _ him _ ...” she grumbled, indicating to the visibly fretting Shuichi. With a defeated sigh, she lifted her school bag, emptying it of all its contents, which seemed to be solely goods from the store. The detective’s stress turned to awe as he realized how aimless his earlier endeavor was. If all went well, he would have gone home with a proud feeling in his heart that he saved someone from the life of a criminal but here he was, watching the same person incriminate themselves. “That’s all of it, and don’t worry, I won’t come back here.” She nearly turned on her heel before the woman spoke once more. 

“That’s  _ one  _ of the consequences, but you’re a high school student by the looks of it. We’re calling your parents,” the irritated woman passed the corded phone to the girl beside him, who he swore had dread in her eyes for a second before she began dialing a number at a deliberately slow pace. 

She pulled the phone to her ear, “Hey dad!...It’s (y/n)...I’m calling from the minimart on Jabberwock Avenue...” the older woman signaled for the phone to be passed to her, the girl reluctantly did so. 

“You can sit over there for now while you wait for your parents to pick you up.” She pointed to the plastic chairs in the corner and then looked at Shuichi, “you’re free to go if you’d like.”

Being the detective he was, his curiosity wouldn’t let him leave the scene without a few questions answered, he followed the girl to the seating arrangement. It wouldn’t do any of them any harm, if anything he could watch out for another one of her attempts to steal something. 

Her head hung low, staring at the wrapped meat bun in her lap, “they installed new monitors...the old ones didn’t work...”

He’d been staring at the meat bun, entranced by its scent so her words bewildered him for a second. “The alarm...so you’ve stolen from here before?”

“Well yeah, I am the Ultimate Thief...but the whole point is to  _ not  _ get caught. I underestimated this shabby little place,” she huffed out dismally. 

It was right then that it clicked.  _ That’s why she was stealing all those things!  _ “Really?”

“Oh yeah, I never properly introduced myself! I’m (y/n) (l/n), the Ultimate Thief,” she held out a hand to him, he shook it, surprised that someone with criminal activity as a talent would be so polite. 

“I’m Shuichi Saihara, as you already know...the Ultimate Detective...I guess...I’m getting there...kind of...” he slid his hand out of hers.

She gave him a puzzled look, (e/c) squinting skeptically at him, “you guess?”

“Y-yeah, I’m not very good but I’m trying...Kirigiri was gracious enough to let me shadow her...she’s been an immense help.”

“That’s why you were with her earlier!” The girl waved a finger in the air in understanding before sinking into her seat slightly. Shuichi nodded along, though something was bothering him. The topic of expulsion Kyoko had mentioned earlier and the way the thief beside him seemed disturbingly calm about it, it didn’t sit right with him.

He swallowed his hesitation, “About earlier...are you really in danger of getting expelled?”

She rolled her eyes, slamming her back onto her seat, just then beginning to unwrap the foil from the meat bun. Shuichi’s eyes darted to her nimble fingers carefully removing the wrapping, “Oh yeah, Hope’s Peak has been on my back since I got there. I was only scouted because they didn’t want such a threatening talent to be running amok without supervision. So now they try to limit what I do, it’s what they do with all the ‘dangerous’ ultimates at our school. We act up in a way that poses a threat to them and we’re threatened with expulsion.” she explained matter of factly. “But nobody takes it seriously.”

Now the bun was half exposed, he watched as she delicately brought it up to her mouth, he felt saliva pooling in his mouth. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he jolted up, now painfully aware that she’d caught him with deprived eyes meant for the food but she’d likely assumed he was just a weird pervert now. 

“S-sorry! I-I’m just hungry! I haven’t eaten since breakfast!” he didn’t dare meet her eyes. The girl shrugged, not saying anything for a few seconds until Shuichi saw half of the bun in front of him, snug in the wrapper. He turned to her in surprise as she chewed, “Th-thanks...”  _ but it was his to begin with... _ he thought, slightly bitter but mostly thankful. 

“B-but going back to what you were saying-” he stopped as his peripherals caught Principal Naegi walking through the door, speedily making his way to the register and bowing to the lady at the counter, exchanging a few words and then being directed toward him and (y/n).

He nearly choked on his food,  _ No way.  _

“Thanks for coming...dad!” he swallowed an uncomfortably large chunk of his bun seeing (y/n) jump out of her seat. 

Naegi sighed, “Kyoko is waiting in the car, we should get going...” his eyes shifted to Shuichi, “We can give you a ride home too.”

Under any other circumstances, he would have respectfully declined as to not intrude but he impulsively agreed, too frazzled by today’s events at the store and then seeing Naegi and discovering he was (y/n)’s father? They looked nothing alike and he was far too young to have a daughter in her final year of high school. Maybe he and Kyoko adopted her? 

Shuichi found himself locking himself into the backseat of Naegi’s BMW, a spacy look in his eyes as he watched his new acquaintance interact with her renowned parents. How had he not heard of it? Wouldn’t the principal having a daughter be common knowledge at school or at least a rumor?

The radio came on as soon as Naegi started up the car, the radio host was having a discourse over a stolen painting with no apparent culprit. Kyoko turned her head to (y/n), who was blissfully digging into her bun, “So you manage to get away with a high stakes heist like that but stealing from a minimart gets you caught?” It was obvious that Kyoko wasn't angry that she’d gotten caught but more that she’d committed the crime at all. 

  
  


More questions arose in the younger detective’s head, he’d heard of the missing painting last night on the news...he wondered just how many more theft reports (y/n) was responsible for. At first glance, she seemed incapable of it.  _ Just look at her.  _ She laughed nervously, waving the few remains of her meat bun in Kyoko’s face playfully. “Don’t mind it...Anyway! Shuichi bought me this meat bun, isn’t he sweet?”

The blue-haired boy chuckled shakily,  _ It wasn't meant to be hers… But that wasn’t his biggest concern right now.  _

“Regardless of the mess you made,” Kyoko shook her head, turning to Shuichi now, “It’s nice that Shuichi hung around.”

She smiled warmly at the boy and he couldn’t help but be envious of (y/n) for being able to call her her mother. But still, something felt off and he couldn’t shake the feeling.

  
  
  
  


»»————- ♡ ————-««

_ Present _

“She was quite the handful those days,” Kyoko massaged her temples at the memory of the time, “But I don’t understand why that would lead to your marriage problems  _ now. _ ”

“Her talent lent itself to a life of crime, I knew that. Even if at the time I didn’t see her in a romantic light, I knew that our paths were stark opposites… I just didn’t know that her alliance with _ somebody else  _ would pull us apart so much.” Shuichi gripped his pen tightly, cursing at himself. 

“Someone else?”

“Kokichi.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> quality time with kokichi heh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very unsure of how to write semi-action scenes ashdhj also i took longer to upload this one bc the other two i had already written by the time i posted only the first chapter and i had more written but it was cringe so i rewrote it to be less cringe so that's why it took longer

If there was anything (y/n) dreaded more than having to think about her encounter with Shuichi, it was the aftermath of it, namely Kokichi. Just as she predicted, he was all over her the next day, following her like a loyal puppy around the DICE building. Prodding and poking on the subject over and over, Kokichi slipped his cape into a duffel bag, “It’s like you’re not even my bestie!” he wailed.

(y/n) rolled her eyes, graciously accepting the mask being handed to her by another DICE member, “who said I was your bestie?” she stuck out her tongue. 

“Uh- excuse me? Did you hear her, Nagito?” He looked to the oblivious white-haired man putting on his large black coat, “After all these years of me putting up with her _ lying _ and _ constant need for attention _ , I’m demoted!” he flung himself back tragically, one of the older DICE members, Dia, catching him and pulling him back up. (y/n) slapped his chest playfully at his sarcasm, crossing her arms and taking him in for a second. She hadn’t realized until now how much he’d grown. He’d gone from a small sprout in the dirt in high school to a decently sized shrub. He was by no means tall by men’s standards but he grew a few inches and his face had chiseled out a bit, his eyes were sharper than ever and he’d perfected that cheshire grin he boasted. Kokichi’s grin fell, “Do I have something on my face or are you just in love with me? I’m gonna have to tell Saihara about this, you now,” he chuckled. 

The woman disregarded his ludicrous comment and made her way to Nagito. 

“Sir, the car is ready for the three of you.” A younger DICE member by the name of Halite peeped through the crack in the door. 

Kokichi readjusted his hat, pulling (y/n) and Nagito with him, “Alright team, let’s go!”

  
  


_____________

_ Senior Year of Hope’s Peak Academy- 3 months until graduation _

1 hour. (y/n) had one hour until her next heist. According to a few of her underground sources, a gallery was showcasing a pricey vase to be put up for auction. And not just any vase, this one had signatures from the most esteemed leaders of the world; from prime ministers to presidents and modern-day monarchs. Retrieving it would be a difficult task but an amusing one nonetheless. 

So why she had agreed to hang out Saihara when there was so much hinging on this heist was a mystery. Maybe it was because he was so extraordinarily kind. Despite their initial encounters dragging him into legally dicey territory, he’d followed up with her and they’d even exchanged phone numbers and he was surprisingly good at keeping in contact considering how shy he was. And (y/n) couldn’t deny that he was an interesting acquaintance. Despite being the quiet type, he had a lot of bizarre stories to tell and he was an incredible listener. 

So here they sat, her homework and his case files strewn across the table, his carefully set up so that nothing confidential was in sight. (y/n) tapped her pencil on the table, unable to concentrate and staring at the wall. How ironic that she would commit a crime in less than an hour that the boy in front of her would likely investigate. She looked over to the detective, he was chewing on his pen, his nose scrunched cutely as he concentrated. His eyes darted from paper to paper, in disbelief and doubt. 

“You okay?” the girl chuckled, cocking her head curiously. 

He gasped, as if he had forgotten she was with him at all, “A-ah, y-yeah. It’s just these cases...” he slumped slightly on the table, “the murders with the strange crime scenes...the suspects just don’t make sense...” She leaned over slightly, catching a glimpse of the said suspects before he pulled his papers away. 

“Oh you mean the murders with the victims stabbed with scissors and ‘bloodlust’ written near them? Those  _ are  _ strange. I heard this theory floating around that they only kill cute boys. You must be terrified.”

“Huh?” he blushed at the implication, retreating into his papers. “D-don’t say stuff like that...”

Her chuckle was cut short by the ringing of her phone. “Ah- I gotta go, Shuichi.”

The boy instinctively reached for her, “s-so soon?”

She swallowed, feeling as if she was already admitting to her soon to be committed crime. They stared at each other for a few awkward seconds. She didn’t know why she was hesitating, there was no reason to hesitate. She needed to go but something about Shuichi’s tentative gaze made her feel uneasy. She fiddled with the ends of her skirt, “y-yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll even bring you lunch.”

“Don’t steal it...” he mumbled. 

His sudden shift in tone made (y/n) ease up, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll make it myself!”

______________

_ Present Day _

“This is how it’s gonna go, okay?” Kokichi linked his arms with Nagito and (y/n), smiling at the guests waiting in line with them. He whispered, “Per the intell we gathered, the target is the last room on the second floor’s VIP suite. Nagito and I will take him and (y/n) will head to the vault on the third floor.”

The two nodded, quickly decorating their faces with faux smiles as they waited for their turn to enter. Once inside, they made sure not to stand out too much, their vigilante attire stuffed into Nagito’s backpack. “Hello. Would you lovely people like a tour for a small charge?”

A small girl in high school, by the looks of it, tapped Kokichi’s shoulder. Probably a volunteer. He turned, already annoyed, a disgusted frown on his lips. “No thanks.”

The girl sunk into herself, biting her lip, “p-please. I-Its a requirement for me to help someone and n-nobody seems to w-want hel-”

“Sucks to be you,” Kokichi turned on his heel. Nagito looked to (y/n) with a distressed look on his face before (y/n) sighed in defeat. 

“Does escorting me to the restroom count? On the way, you can show me some paintings, how’s that sound?” She offered. The shy girl with the now visible nametag ‘Kanna’ smiled brightly, nodding quickly. 

Kokichi raised a brow for a second before patting (y/n)’s shoulder in farewell and pulled Komaeda with him. 

“(y/n) really is a kind of soul, the kind of person that can create a future full of hope, it’s an honor to work alongside her. Both of you actually, you both bring extraordinary skills to the table- and what we’re doing is such a good thing- I only wish I could be of more use to you-”

“Shuuut up, Nagito! You say this  _ every time _ . (y/n) is great, I’m better, you’ve got a servant complex. It’s all been established. Now get in the elevator.” Kokichi tapped his leg impatiently, hurrying the white haired man so he could close the door before more people came in.

“Ah, okay. If that’s all I’m good for...” They quickly closed the doors on a woman speeding toward the elevator, leaving the two of them to ascend to the second floor, which was the hotel floor. 

“Sorry for speaking without permission but will (y/n) be able to complete her mission?” Out of habit, Nagito walked slightly behind Oma, like a servant to a king. 

The purple-haired boy pulled Nagito into the nearest bathroom, eyes narrowed as he shoved his DICE uniform into Nagito’s chest, “All these years and you’ve learned nothing about her. (y/n) won’t leave this building until she gets what’s in that vault.” 

_________

_ Senior Year of Hope’s Peak Academy- 3 months until graduation _

A light thud was heard on the deserted floor as the bulky bodyguard fell to his knees, slightly guided by Kokichi in an effort to stifle any noise. The boy dropped his damp cloth on the ground beside the guard, readjusting his red and white clown mask. All that was left was to get past the enormous vault behind him. The gallery had multiple renown guests, the vase inside was surely to be worth his time. He pulled out a clear zipped bag from his pocket, taking a piece of tape from inside and pressing it against the fingerprint scanner. A beep was heard before a pad ejected from the vault door, with the words ‘ENTER PASS’ flashing on the screen. 

“What was it again?...” he whispered to himself, inputting the code slowly and sighing in relief when the vault hissed open. He practically hopped inside, ready to claim the fruits of his labor. Going into a high-security building with nothing but a GHB-drenched towel was a mistake but he’d gotten this far so that was something. 

He slipped to a stop at the sight before him. A girl dressed in Hope’s Peak’s Uniform. He recognized her, but who was she again? She quickly snatched the vase from its pedestal. “You’re too late, it’s mine.” Though she was rather surprised this person had managed to get into the vault as well.

“Sorry, but I’ll be taking it. Wouldn’t want you getting expelled from school,” he mocked her, gliding his feet along the marble floor as he reached for it. She turned quickly but his lithe body contorted so that he was able to snatch it from her hands. 

“Yoink! I’ll be taking that. S for sad attempt though, ba-bye-” he waved tantalizingly. The girl’s hands turned into fists, an indignant crease forming between her eyes as she pounced the person before her. Kokichi struggled to catch his balance as he fell, holding the vase upward to avoid it falling. The vase was left unscathed and sat perfectly upright on the ground though Kokichi was now being straddled by the girl. He squirmed until he was on his back, her grip on his wrists tightened. 

With her loose hand, she ripped the mask off, revealing the boy with pale skin and bright purple eyes. He looked younger than her. Kokichi struggled slightly to no avail, she made sure to keep him in place, “I don’t want to hurt you so just let me leave peacefully and don’t tell anyone about this.”

That’s when it hit him. He’d done research on her a couple of week’s ago, as he regularly did with any criminal seeming peers. But more importantly, “Why are you here? Don’t you hang out with good boy Saihara?” Caught by surprise by the stranger, her grip loosened and Kokichi took this opportunity to throw her back with as much strength as he could call on in his position. He dusted off his hands, sparing her shocked form a glance, “He would be  _ so  _ disappointed to hear that you stole such a valuable piece of art. I’ll just take it so you won’t have to go through that guilt, you’re welcome.”

(y/n) cringed, taking a second as she could already see Saihara’s discontent. What strike was she on at this point?

She shook herself out of the daze, crawling to pull at the boy’s leg and hand chopping the back of his knees, dropping him to his knees, “I won’t let you take it that easily-”

He pushed her back, his knee pressed against her stomach, “Oh? She knows what she wants? How charming but I’m taking this baby home.”

The girl dug her nails into his hands where he held them, making him wince enough to ease his grip as well. She quickly pulled out a knife from her back pocket to which Kokichi, wide eyed, quickly responded to by knocking her back flat on the ground, just barely catching her hand as she lunged the knife at his face blindly. 

“”Whoa! Quit it!” The words wouldn’t phase her, she was the Ultimate Thief after all. If anyone was desperate to steal something, it was her and she wouldn’t let him off easy if he fought back and he had no weapon. But he wanted the vase and Kokichi Ouma  _ always  _ got what he wanted. 

He thought quickly, somewhat doubtful of his words despite his outward confidence, “Fine fine. How about you join my organization and we both keep it?

She pushed up, her knife nearing closer to Kokichi’s face as his strength waned. “It means you’d be giving up your entire life to me and my secret organization. We work to steal and expose these rich bastards and loot them for all they’re worth. Most of them have it coming to them anyway.”

(y/n) continued to move against him, her own strength dropping with every attempt to overpower him. He was surprisingly strong despite his scrawny stature. He sighed tiredly, looking equally as worn out from their squabble, but still flaunting that wretched, self satisfied smirk, “What’s a thief like you gonna do after high school anyway?... If you’re this desperate... to steal then you most definitely won’t become an upstanding citizen… So you’re options are be a lonely thief who inevitably gets caught and goes to jail or join me-”

_ Get caught.  _ She wouldn’t have cared a few months back when all her life amounted to was getting by and stirring some trouble here and there but now it felt like there was the weight of expectation on her, something she’d never had. Joining an organization would give her resources, it would definitely make stealing less risky. In the past few weeks, she’d felt genuine fear pooling in her stomach. Kirigiri would be so angry if she heard she was at the police department, Makoto would be upset and wouldn’t talk to her for some time, Shuichi would probably help prosecute her, she couldn’t have that. She couldn’t. 

“Fine.” she fell back, pulling her hand away and shoving the knife into her pocket. 

Kokichi let out a breath he was holding, dropping back for a second, smirking triumphantly before getting up and extending his hand, holding his mask with a red mark across it out to the girl, “I’m Kokichi Oma by the way. Welcome to DICE.”

  
  


__________

“Why is this thing so damn big?” (y/n) groaned, hoisting up the sole item in the room, a hefty suitcase. Pulling off her shoe, she aimed it at the vent and the heel retracted from the shoe, anchoring itself on the vent and pulling her up slowly. Once inside the vent, she wiggled through,giving thanks under her breath for the vent being rather large and fitting her and the case. Her heart beat quickly as she pushed the heavy item through the vent, there was that feeling again. That unparalleled giddiness and excitement she felt only when she was on these missions. To devote herself to something so holistically was beautiful. It was like Nagito (very) frequently said, their work brought hope to the world, she could feel it pooling in her stomach by the second.

As intoxicating as the feeling was, she put it on pause momentarily at the sound of continued beating on the other side of a vent she passed. She stopped and looked through it.

Kokichi and Nagito were tying up a battered man to a chair. She grinned and broke the window of the vent so that it clattered on the floor, catching the attention of the masked duo. 

She pushed the case with her feet, sitting at the edge of the vent for a few seconds to catch her breath, staring at the floor, a grin that was far too wide spread across her face. She felt like running laps around the entire country, like building an entire city and destroying it. No, with the way she felt now, she could _ conquer the world _ , with Kokichi and Nagito it certainly wasn’t impossible. Her hands were shaking, pure ecstasy ran through her, her breath got heavier by the second. 

“(y/n).” Kokichi pulled her attention to him, clad in his hat and cape now. Her fervent beaming continued as she took note of her mask with a red slash on it in his hand. “Put this on. We need to get going.”

Kokichi quickly turned away from the woman once she took her mask, biting his lip slightly before exiting the window. 

“What a shame, I stained my uniform with blood again...” Komaeda pulled at his shirt, frowning up at (y/n), noting the distant eyes and twitching smile, “Oh, (y/n) ! You’re glowing, overflowing with hope!”

Kokichi’s brows furrowed, turning back crossly from the window sill he was perched on, “I’m leaving you two if you don’t get moving.”

  
The thief pulled herself to her feet, Nagito following behind her with the case in hand. As she dived out of the building with her clawshot secured on another building, the wind against her face and the bubbling in her stomach, she remembered something. This feeling, she only felt it on missions  _ and  _ when she was with Shuichi. 


End file.
